Just Step Away
by AccountClosedCept4PMingPhoenix
Summary: When Eddie convinced Patricia to go to Scotland with him on their Christmas break, a lot of things start to happen. In the end, everyone's heart may get broken and a mystery may beat the mystery solvers. Oh, but they'll fight it. 3rd Genre: Suspense
1. Christmas Break

**It's... sort of set after Season one but Eddie is there so... yeah... not too many references to Season Two. It's like the mystery hasn't started yet or something. Just read it!**

**My first Peddie fanfiction. Enjoy, Peddians! After it all, it _might_ have a happy ending! The poem at the beginning is for... well, just keep reading. **

**Sibuna!**

Just Step Away

_There's nothing left to say  
>So why don't you just step away?<em>

_Don't think of runnin' after me  
>Your face is one I don't want to see<em>

_I don't care what's in your head  
>or what was in the books you read<em>

_I don't want to know what could have been  
><em>_Because this will never happen again_

_I'll be like stone  
>I'll be alone<em>

_If you won't, I'll go  
>Out into the snow<em>

_At least I can try  
>So you won't see me cry <em>

Chapter One, Christmas Break.

Patricia

"No way," I said.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" he begged.

I looked at him doubtfully. "Christmas break. In the snowiest part of the country."

"You're just too wimpy to come." Eddie announced.

"Am not!" I protested and stood up.

"Then come with us!" he said.

"Us?" I asked.

"Fabian, Nina, Jerome, and Mara. Alfie didn't want to because Amber wouldn't and Joy is mad because she said she'd go somewhere else. Please Patricia? It'll be great!" Eddie tried once again to convince me.

"But really. Scotland?" I was still dubious.

"Come on, don't crush the tin can." he said.

I smiled at his blond hair. Wait, why on earth would I be smiling at his blonde hair? "Alright, alright, I'll come!"

"Hah! I knew I could convince you!" He triumphantly swaggered away.

I frowned. Scotland?

*.*

"This is so not funny," I growled.

The cab driver looked back at us. "Sorry mates, we're going to have to go the long way around."

A massive snow drift had piled up in front of us. I cursed under my breath. Why, oh why? I was cold, even in the car. Luckily enough the taxi driver was english so Nina wasn't gawking at his Scottish accent yet.

"That warm cabin will just seem all the warmer after a long wait!" Jerome said mockingly.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know this would happen?" Eddie asked angrily.

"Okay, just calm down guys. We still haven't figured out who takes which rooms in the cabin." Nina said, trying to divert their attention. I gave her the thumbs up behind Eddie's back one he had turned.

"But how can we discuss that when we haven't even gotten there yet, genius?" Jerome scowled.

"Blueprints!" Fabian handed out the blueprints of the building.

Mara finally stared out of her book. "Wow. Look at all the different types of wildlife and plants around here! It's a totally different ecosystem." she announced in amazement.

Fabian smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool how it can change that quick."

Jerome was busy planning pranks over the blueprints.

Nina sighed. She had probably been hoping to withhold that information for as long as possible.

*.*

"Ahrg!" I screamed as my foot slipped on the thick sheet of shining ice.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

Why did he have to catch me?

I could almost hear Amber saying, "Awkward."

"Wow," he said.

I looked up; maybe the cold would help cover for the fact my face was burning.

He actually wasn't looking at me. He was looking up at the cabin.

I quickly pulled myself up. Ohh, I was going to have to buy a really thick black sweater soon, unfortunately. Somehow my casual shirt with lace over the arms just wasn't keeping me toasty warm. But maybe I could make do?

Wow. That actually was pretty cool.

"Whoa," Mara said.

Fabian and Nina both had a slightly distrustful expressions on their faces. I guessed they were hoping their vacation wasn't going to turn into yet another mystery.

Jerome rubbed his hands gleefully.

Looking back at the first day of our vacation, I wish I had turned away from the squat log cabin with all the lights out and ivy growing all over it.

I didn't know Fabian and Nina were going to get their mystery after all.

**Hmmm! Please review! If I get 3-5 reviews I will update!**

**Sibuna!**


	2. Out of Place

**Special thanks to Poison Black Holly for always reading my stories, but also thank YOU all those who reviewed! Also in this chapter we have our first Eddie POV, marked by his name alone on one line. And now, a speedy update for Peddians and the Patromians who have humoured me by coming to this story:**

Just Step Away

Chapter Two, Out of Place

Patricia

I steadied myself on the slippery drive and looked up to the cabin once again. There were no welcoming lights like I had imagined. The garden which looked to have once been well manicured was now over run with thorns, nettles, and a few thistles.

"Well, so much for the luxurious cabin retreat," I said slowly. Then I turned to him. "Eddie, I think your Dad needs a raise if this is what he comes up with for Christmas break."

"Agreed," he grunted.

"So whose going in first?" Jerome asked, swallowing.

I could almost see Fabian wail silently in protest as Nina walked bravely towards the door.

She pushed it open a crack. Then she quickly turned back, a smile on her face. "Come on guys, it's not so bad. I think the lights must just be out. I can see some candles," she said reassuringly.

Jerome, determined to not be viewed as the chicken, strutted towards the door. "Don't worry, I can take it from here," he said arrogantly.

Stupid Jerome. He had barely strutted inside the house when we heard a thin shriek. "AAAAAAAH!" came a voice from inside the house.

"What on earth?" we heard Jerome's voice speaking out again.

I smiled as Fabian, Eddie, I, and Mara all followed Nina in. There was no way I was going to screech like that.

When we had forced the door open enough for us all to follow, we spotted Jerome sitting on the floor in the small dark kitchen. A box of purple candles were sitting on a shelf high above his head.

I could hear Mara fighting not to laugh as she looked at him sitting there, completely still.

"So Shrieker, did the box of candles frighten you?" Eddie asked grinning.

I elbowed him. I don't know why I did it, he just annoyed me when he said stuff like that. It was stupid, and more importantly, American. At least I thought it was American. I wasn't really sure.

"Oh right," he said, turning to me as if the invention of the light bulb had just dawned on him. "Sorry Yacker, I'll save the 'er' suffix for you." He smiled painfully.

"Don't try and use big words, they don't suit you." I snarled.

"I forgot your vocabulary was so limited, I'll try and remember in the future." he said with a smirk.

"Come on Jerome," Nina sighed and pulled him to his feet.

Mara stood smiling. "Did the candles come and get you?" she asked playfully.

Jerome scowled at her. "Be lucky you're not Eddie." he said. Then he turned menacingly to Eddie. "If you ever call me Shrieker again, before bed time tonight you will be very sorry. Especially as I didn't shriek." he added as an after thought.

"Whatever prank boy," I said tiredly.

*.*

Eddie

I watched in amusement as Fabian cursed trying to get the fuse to work. A bunch of wires were snapped in it. Jerome was still insisting that he hadn't shrieked, which only made it more fun to tease him.

I didn't get where Fabian got his curses from, and I really didn't want to know. As curses, they were awful. But as nerd points, they were awesome. He used words like, "Flibbergibbit!" or "Giddyhop!" A Harry Potter spell gone wrong or what?

"Okay, I give up." Fabian said. "We'll just have to use candles."

If Amber had been there, she probably would have said something about it being really romantic. I wasn't really sure and I didn't really care right now.

I turned back to the empty fireplace and returned to my task. Maybe going to Scotland hadn't been such a great idea after all, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. Apart from Fabian and Jerome, anyway. Nina came in to remedy Fabian's nerd-swearing though, and everyone just ignored Jerome, so it was okay.

We ate what was apparently a 'traditional british meal' of beans on toast.

Nina said to Fabian, "Can't you just imagine if Amber was here?"

"Yeahh..." he said. He let out a sigh. "She'd be so mad right now."

"And doing those hand gestures," Nina pointed out.

"Why does everyone keep thinking about Amber?" Jerome asked, taking the words out of my mind. I just didn't want to make Patricia mad, and I wasn't entirely sure why. Then again, it was kind of fun to make her mad. She'd clench her fists and her face would heat up and her colored hair streak would sway ever so slightly to the right and... what was I thinking? Yeah, it was fun to make her mad.

"Well..." Nina trailed off when she remembered who wasn't there. She was partially glad Joy wasn't there, I could tell.

Usually I couldn't tell other people's feelings, so it was weird that I could tell her. It must be like a fellow American psychic bond or something.

Nina was taking the dishes into the kitchen when we heard Mara scream.

*.*

Patricia

We all rushed into the hallway where she had disappeared to. She was standing in the dark and cold living room which had a second fireplace, staring at a dusty plank which had fallen from the ceiling.

My eyes slowly travelled up from Mara with her hand over her mouth to the open trapdoor.

"There must be an attic up there," Fabian gulped.

"What happened?" I asked urgently.

"It... it just fell from the ceiling right where I was standing!" she said in a shaky voice.

I took a quick glance at Nina once the boys had left and we quickly left the room as well. "Okay, so whose going to talk to her?" Nina asked.

"Where's Amber when you need her?" I said wryly.

"I don't think Amber is the girl from the job. What if there's something else going on? Like something Sibuna-y? Something is definitely out of place." Nina said in a hushed voice, her brown hair hanging down.

I looked up at her. "Okay. You talk to her, I think I'm going to go talk to Jerome. Tell Fabian when you get a chance."

Nina nodded as I left. "You think he really didn't shriek?" she asked then.

"Or maybe there was a reason to," I answered.

The dark hallway stood empty for a moment, as if biding its time.

**Well well. Once I get 3-5 reviews I'll try to give you another speedy update. :) I only have one other story I'm working on.**

**Sibuna!**

**~Iceshadow**


	3. Mountains and Murder

**Right so sorry everyone it took so long to get this update ready; I was writing another story! I also have plans to write this story all the way to the end and THEN update it, but I'm not sure if that will work yet. Anyway, here is the 3rd chapter of Just Step Away - Mountains and Murder.**

Just Step Away

Chapter Three, Mountains and Murder

Nina

Usually it rained in Scotland, they had told me. But instead it was snowing. Little clumps of heather were rapidly being covered by the snow. I turned away from the cold window, still trying to figure out what was going on. The kitchen was unusually quiet compared to when we had gotten here. Fabian had stopped trying to fix the lights and instead we had somewhat cheery candles and an open fire both in the kitchen and the living room. The stove was gas powered so we didn't have to worry about that . Mara was quietly cooking breakfast along with Patricia "helping". Patricia was secretly, I knew, trying to think up ways to combine all of her various gothic outfits so she might stand a chance in the cold outside.

"So, are we going on that trip?" Fabian asked Eddie after he finished a chapter of his book.

"Snowing wasn't exactly part of the plan," Eddie said uncomfortably.

"Come on, don't be such a wimp." Jerome sneered.

I walked up next to Fabian. "It's not a question of being a wimp, it's just whether you want to walk up a mountain in the snow. I don't care either way," I said pointedly.

Jerome shrugged. "Aren't there some winter coats in the closet?" he asked.

"Yes Jerome, there are." Fabian sighed. "It doesn't have to be something we fight about. I just wanted to know."

Mara walked over to the table with a pot of porridge and six bowls. "Okay, help yourselves." she said, and sat down at the table. Somehow I thought she looked slightly uncomfortable or that something was out of place. I realized that her usually glossy brown hair hadn't been brushed. I frowned slightly at the thought; not because I cared that she hadn't brushed her hair, but because it seemed unusual.

I wondered silently as I sat over my steaming bowl of oatmeal if it had something to do with last night's scare. I still couldn't figure out what was going on, but it seemed like it was certainly something Sibuna-y. Amber would love that word, I knew.

I still had to talk to Fabian about it, and I thought maybe the walk up the mountain would be a good place to tell him. There might be somewhere the others couldn't hear me talking.

"Right, well I for one want to go, because I'm not a scaredy-cat!" Jerome stated, frowning at the rest of us as if he were in any way menacing.

"I think it would be a good way to spend the day, but it's up to everyone else..." Mara said slowly.

I added my sentiment to Jerome's. "I think we should go," I said.

"Come on, what else are we going to do all day?" Fabian asked.

Patricia came up with her hands on her hips. "I'm not being a scaredy-cat, I just think there are better days to do this."

"That's what I'm thinking. Besides, we have plenty of time left." Eddie said, crossing his arms.

Everyone stood still for a minute.

"Well, what about us four go, and you two stay here?" Mara suggested, fair as always.

"Sounds good," Eddie smiled.

I felt like grinning. I was starting to become more and more like Amber. I thought Patricia and Eddie were cute. I was familiar with her words like 'Peddie'!

I thought about 'Fabina' for a minute. I was glad to have things be like they were before Joy came back. It was nice and comfortable (although sometimes uncomfortable) to have Fabian just be there without the awkwardness with Joy or the mystery.

"Right then," Jerome said.

*.*.*

Patricia

I sat warming my hands on the warm cup of tea. The steam swirled when I shook it slightly. I stood in the kitchen, against the cupboards. "Eddie, I think we should go into the attic."

He looked up at me and frowned. He had been working on some stupid list of Fabian's swear words, all scrawled in big messy handwriting.

"Look, if you're too scared to do it-" I said forcefully, only to be cut off.

"Does he use bligitz?" he asked me, putting the pencil to his lip.

"Eddie, you're avoiding my question." I scowled at him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go up _alone,_ where I could finally get away from him!

"Whatever. At least you'll be quiet when a plank falls on your head, Yakker." he walked towards the living room, where the ladder to the attic was.

"Right then," I said, after we had put the rough wooden ladder in place.

"Going first then are you?" he asked, grinning.

"Course I am," I frowned. "You didn't think I would let a sissy like you go up first, did you?" I asked, smiling.

Eddie scowled at my back as I went up the ladder.

*.*.*

The attic was cold and dark. We had to go on our knees. Also, we were waaaay too close for comfort. My comfort, anyway. He seemed perfectly comfortable. At least there was one upside; his blonde hair was filled with dust and spiderwebs, making him look more like a dog than a boy. I shook away the thought that I might have spiderwebs in my hair as well.

"Argh!" I yelled as I suddenly slipped. There was a a floor board missing and my hand shot down the hole.

He spun around, knocking some old bits of furniture on the ground. The noise echoed around. "Are you alright?" he asked after a pause.

"There's... there's something down here." I said in shock, my eyes wide.

Slowly, my hand emerged, covered with cobwebs.

Clutched in it was a wedding ring.

*.*.*

"Why are the lights on?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said, examining the light switch. He frowned back at me.

"Well, there's a name engraved on the wedding ring." I told him.

"Really? On that bit of thin wire?" he asked sceptically.

"Emily Penn," I told him.

"Let's look her up," was his simple response.

*.*.*

"Took you long enough!" I groaned.

"Hey, I haven't practised my nerd skills!" he joked.

"Whoa," I said.

"Emily Penn was murdered on this very mountain," he gulped. "The case was never solved, but her husband to be was suspected and the estate was left to Anna Penn, her younger sister. The locals disliked her because her family was English and had moved into this cottage."

I looked at him for a long moment. "We have a dead girl's wedding ring."

"What if she's not completely dead?" he asked me in a whisper.

The floorboards above our heads creaked.

**Ahhh cliff-hanger! You know what makes me want to write more, so click that button! Thanks guys.**

**~Iceshadow~**


	4. Malcolm

**I know that I've been gone for ages, but I've been working on a new category so here goes the next chapter. Also I have a request for more Peddie moments so I'll try and comply!**

Just Step Away

Chapter Four, Malcolm

No point of view

The wind swirled around them, bringing clumps of snow unexpectedly into view. "Okay guys, next time you want to climb up a mountain, remind me to stay behind," Fabian complained.

The mountains, which in summer would have been full of blooming clumps of heather, was now barren and full of craggy rocks with snow on them. "Well, maybe we can get under that overhang," Nina suggested.

"Not frightened, are you two?" Jerome laughed.

"Look, there's a shack over there." Mara strained her eyesight in surpise.

As they neared the abandoned building, they were surprised at what they found. The garden, rather than having a mixture of plants on it, had only a quickly spreading very common plant called nettles, as Nina later discovered. "Ow!" she complained after touching one.

"They sting; haven't you learned that by now?" Jerome said.

"Well no." she admitted.

"Should we go closer?" Mara asked, looking nervous.

"I'm not sure we can," Fabian said, examining the growth of nettles in a closer fashion. "Besides, when did the rest of you start to want to go home?" At the start of the journey he had been the only slightly apprehensive one, apart from Nina. Nina had been so excited that it had hardly counted.

Jerome pouted. Mara said, "I don't think these were very practical coats."

"Or they had enough sense to stay out of the snow storms," Nina pointed out.

The trees that grew around the shack at least provided some cover. However, on top of the moss covered ground, it seemed colder than outside. It was darker as well and all the heather plants were gone under the shade of the trees. Nina eyed the shack with growing unease. She didn't like it. Their shack had had lighter colored wood; possibly pine instead of the dark oak wood of this cabin. The windows hadn't been broken in and in their garden there had been at least some flowers struggling on. There wasn't the oppressive shade and it had a way in, instead of the sea of stinging nettles.

"So what do we do?" Mara asked anxiously.

"I guess we just go back," Fabian answered readily.

"Right." Jerome said. As they made for the way out of the grove, he called out for them. "There's just one problem."

They all turned back, Nina's eyes growing wide and Fabian and Mara frowning.

"We're lost," he announced grandly.

*.*

"Ow!" Fabian winced at the white sting that was growing on his hands.

Nina had the idea of flattening the nettles with a plank that was lying on the ground. It had seemed reasonable enough to get into the shack, where there might be a map and at least it was warmer than in the wind.

But finally, after many nettle stings, the group of four finally got into the shack.

"There's a letter on the table!" Nina gasped.

It was dark and crowded in the little shack. An oak table stood in the middle of the room with a three legged stool and a burned out yellow candle. Some rusty metal tools lay in one corner, along with a wool fleece jacket.

"What does it say?" Somehow Fabian didn't want to know. He had a terrible feeling they were about to find another mystery.

"_Dear Malcolm," _Nina read. "_In that case I will see you five days hence in our grove in the woods.  
>Anna is doing better, although her fair hair has not yet regained its bounce! The flowers are growing in our garden, and I cannot help but think of our wedding day quickly approaching.<br>Is your mother not yet content with my English heritage? I feel many people here are not happy with my presence; am I correct in thinking this?_

_Still I think the worst of the winter is over, so it should not be hard for me to find my way through the woods to our meeting grove.  
>The cat is still missing. I cannot think why, or where she has gone. It is most strange but perhaps she will find her way to your house or the lower<em> town.

The rest is ripped away," Nina frowned.

Indeed, the rest had been ripped away, leaving a jagged edge. "Wait, she signed it on the back."

"Who is she?" Jerome asked.

Nina lifted her eyes to them slowly. "She signed it Emily Penn."

*.*

_The winter of 1990 was cold in Scotland, a few drifts of pure white snow drifting in the dark shadows. A woman dressed in white, with brown fur boots was picking her way through the woods. The pine trees brushed her high cheekbones as she walked. Her long straight light brown hair lay against her white wool coat. Her red lips opened. "Malcolm?" she called out in a sweet voice._

_A man stepped out of the shadows. Dark brown hair and hazel eyes stared back at her. "Emily," he smiled at her. _

_The moon rose as a cold, thin shriek rose from the trees._

_Murder._

**Sorry it was just all them and no Peddie, but I felt like I should update soon rather than waiting for ages. So sorry it took so long!**

_~Iceshadow~_


	5. Anna

**Right here we are. Two requests for more Peddie moments, so this chapter is with Patricia and Eddie in it. Also yes, this is Fabina, Jara, and Peddie. And, I don't own Micky Mouse!**

Chapter Five, Anna

Patricia

The floorboard above us creaked. "Anna Penn! Who was she, Eddie?" I shouted in desperation. Was there really a ghost in this house? Jerome, screaming? The plank that had almost fallen on Mara?

"I don't know!" he yelled back. "All it says is that she was Emily Penn's younger sister!"

Suddenly we got very quiet. The silence was almost worse than the yelling. His green eyes looked at me for a long moment. "I have a feeling we might be about to find out." His eyes flicked away from me, giving me a sense of relief. For some reason I didn't like looking directly into his eyes like that.

"Eddie," I whispered. "I'm scared."

"You should be," an eerie voice said.

*.*

Patricia

A girl stood, hovering in front of us. She had curly blonde hair with deep brown eyes and a pale mouth. Light seemed to radiate out from her, and her simple white dress with brown ties shone in the suddenly dim room.

"Wh-who are you?" I whimpered in fright.

Her brown eyes lit up. "My name is Anna."

"Anna Penn," Eddie gasped.

The web page behind us started to glow and lifted off the screen, before our very eyes. It hovered in front of us as the girl just looked at us, her fingers twitched slightly.

The glowing lines of text read:

_Anna Penn 1980 - 1991_

_Unsolved Murder Case_

_Anna Penn was born in Oxford, and she and her sister moved to Scotland in 1988. Emily Penn died two years later in another unsolved murder case, while Anna held the estate with help from parents and guardians for another two years. She died aged 11, whereof she went missing and was found two days later._

"Find the murderer," her lyrical voice turned into a low hiss.

"What murderer?" I yelled as she began to disappear. "Who is it?"

The room was empty, but one last whisper died out. "Find their grave, or find yours."

*.*

Eddie

Patricia was shaking, I could see. I wasn't so sure my hands were steady myself. We had just seen a ghost, and had been told to find somebody's grave; or we'd die?

"Eddie," she finally said in a slow voice.

"What is it?" I asked, not really paying attention.

There was a pause. "I think we need the mystery geeks." she said, as if uncertain.

"Yeah."

*.*

Eddie

We sat in the kitchen, the candles helping to cheer us up a little. I wished the lights would work, even though I couldn't admit it.

We had exchanged our cups of tea for cups of hot chocolate, and we hadn't talked much since we had both seen Anna. It was hard to believe it was real, but I guess that's the problem when you go to House of Anubis. Maybe it was a group hallucination! For some reason the thought made me laugh, and that probably wasn't a good sign but I didn't care. "Yakker," I said.

"Mm?" She asked, staring out the window.

"We'll figure out whatever it is." I said, trying to act all comforting, like in a movie.

"You know how cheesy you sounded when you said that?" she turned to me, a scowl growing on her face.

Before I knew it, we were both standing up and we were yelling at each other. Or at least, our voices were raised.

"Well hey, at least I was trying to be nice! Sorr-ee, won't make the mistake again!" I told her, furious.

"Good, 'cuz you don't do it very well!" she retorted.

"Maybe it's just because you don't know how to be nice, you don't want other people to be nice to you!" I told her angrily.

'Well, at least when I'm nice to people, it doesn't sound like a line from a bad movie! Who are you, Micky Mouse?" she said.

Slowly, I started to laugh. "M... m... micky mouse?" I wheezed out.

"That wasn't supposed to be funny!" she punched me in the chest, but it didn't hurt.

"Right then, Minnie the goth!" My eyebrows went up at the thought.

"Oh, you little..." Patricia screwed her eyebrows, thinking of a suitable insult.

It was then I realized we were close together. Like, really close together. She had punched my chest and afterwords she hadn't moved away. "Uhhh..." I said intelligently.

Suddenly the door swung open. "Hi guys!" Nina chirped, and then quickly became silent.

"We got lost in the woods," Jerome complained sourly from behind them.

I quickly moved away from Patricia. "Well, look who needs a better sense of direction..." I trailed off.

Jerome scowled at me.

*.*

Nina

"Uh, guys? There's a problem," Mara said, biting her lip.

We were all sitting in the living room, around the fire place. We hadn't told them about the letter we found yet, because it didn't seem that important. I figured me and Fabian would tell Patricia about it later, just in case there was something Sibuna-y going on.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, there are only two bedrooms. And in the two bedrooms, there's only room for two people." She said, waving her hands around.

"Soooo..." Jerome drawled from behind Mara. "One lucky couple get to sleep in the living room!"

All at once, everyone started stuttering. Mara started asking Jerome what he meant by couple, and then he said awkwardly he just meant as a figure of speech, and then Patricia and Eddie started some argument about 'what couple', and me and Fabian just stuttered over and over again about 'not a couple'.

Thanks Jerome.

So, in the end, we pulled names out of a paper bag.

Oh, they were so going to kill us.

Patricia and Eddie had to sleep in the living room, one on the couch and the other on the floor.

This was not good.

**Okay so when I get 3 or more reviews I will update. Enjoy, and prepare for Peddie moments in the next chapter! **

~Iceshadow~


	6. Afternap

**Thank you, everyone! And now to reward you all :) And also thanks to 2Blonde2Function for the idea below! And for all you Peddie fans... pure fluff and romance! Well maybe not pure fluff and romance, but still...**

Chapter 6, Afternap

Eddie

"So, I trust our princess will be sleeping on the couch?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Oh no, oh no you don't. I will sleep on the FLOOR." She snarled back at me.

"Um, okay. Whatever." I wasn't expecting her to react like that.

The room was really dark and as I sunk deep into the couch I heard Patricia rustling around in her sleeping bag. Everyone had been tiptoeing around us since our names got pulled out of the bag. It was kind of funny, actually. Although by the end of the night, when I would probably have scars all over my face, it wouldn't be funny then. I quickly banished the thought of my handsome face with scars on it. Briefly I remembered I snored, and almost laughed out loud. Yakker was going to be one angry goth when she woke up.

Okay. I really needed some sleep, because seriously I was starting to daydream a little. Just a little, that is.

*.*

Eddie

It was like 2:30 am in the morning, I thought groggily. What on earth had woken me up?

I heard a creaking from upstairs. Quick as a flash - or rather, really slowly because I just woke up - I jumped out of my heap of blankets. The couch was surprisingly broad and I almost ended up slipping back down again.

"Eddie?" I heard Patricia's voice coming from somewhere near me. She sounded frightened; Yakker, frightened?

I heard the creaking noise again. "Find the grave of my murderer," came a voice from above. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Anna! In the confusion of my mind, I slowly worked out that Patricia must have heard the voice, woke up, and gotten freaked out. It was easy to see why, even if she was a goth; it was completely dark in the room and I couldn't even see where she was, let alone where the voice was coming from.

"Okay, okay!" I said, probably not in the most intelligent voice. "We'll find the grave of your murderer!" I yelled.

At the moment that seemed like a really smart thing to do, yelling 'okay okay' at the angry ghost. But I'm not at my best in the mornings, and certainly not at 2:30 am. I briefly excused myself for the obvious blunder.

Slowly, a hiss died away. "Find him..." were the ghost's last words.

"Okay okay? _That's _what you say to the angry ghost?" Yakker said from somewhere in the darkness, echoing my own thoughts.

"Look Patricia, I'm tired, I just got woken up by a _ghost,_ and you still haven't told your mystery squad's what's going on; so we have nothing to do, except try and figure it out in the morning." I sighed and tried to make my way back to the couch in the pitch black room.

Unfortunately, I had gotten turned around when I heard her voice, and the couch was actually right behind me, not to my right as I thought. What was to my right, however, was a very startled Patricia Williamson.

She had made her way over to the couch by pure luck and was standing adjacent to me. I walked directly into her, getting a yelp, and suddenly we both fell onto the couch.

"Well, this is awkward," I said. Okay, I did say I'm not at my best in the mornings.

"Um, yeah... wait is that your elbow on my shoulder?" She asked, suddenly suspicious.

I shifted slightly. "Um, no, that's my chin," I affirmed.

I felt her elbow in my nose. "Ow!" I complained. "Fine! If you're so eager to get away from me, go back on the floor!"

I could tell she was smirking. "Oh brave knight, why don't you go on the floor?"

"Because you're pinning me to the couch," I said in exasperation.

"Oh."

*.*

Eddie

I blinked my eyes open in the soft morning light. The clock on the arm of the couch read 7:30. Not bad, considering the scare we had both had.

Then I realized. She hadn't actually gotten off the couch.

Man, she was hot. Wait... did I just think that about _Yakker?_ Well she was kind of sleeping right next to me, I justified.

And - I grinned - she was snoring. Looks like I wasn't the only one with that particular problem.

"Rise and shine, Snorer." I gently shook her.

"Oy!" She squirmed away from me as soon as I woke her up.

Quickly we both go up, Patricia preparing to hit me and I preparing to defend myself.

As she rose her hand to slap me, and I knew this time it would hurt, I grabbed her hands and held them there in the air.

"Hey!" she protested.

Quickly, she stopped protesting as for whatever reason, I leaned forward and kissed her.

**Um yeah... that went SO fast you would not believe it. I know some of you like the mystery, so we'll get back to that in the next chapter. But seriously, don't blame me when... *gasp* is something going to go wrong? Nah, I never do interesting plots like that...**

**When I get 3 or more reviews I will update.**

**~Iceshadow~**


	7. Choose your Path

Chapter 7, Choose your Path

Nina

My mouth dropped open as they told me about Anna, Emily, and Malcolm. "We have to find out what happened!" I said immediately.

"Well how do you suggest we do that?" Patricia asked scornfully.

Fabian looked thoughtful. "Why wouldn't she remember her own murderer?"

For a moment, we were all silent. "Maybe she was poisoned?" Eddie asked.

"But then how can we hope to find out who did it?" Fabian countered. "There has to be something more going on here!"

I pressed my lips together hard in thought. "What if we ask some of the people around here?" I said tentatively.

*.*

Nina

We stood in the freezing post office, listening to the hum of voices in the bright but empty room. Patricia had told both me and Eddie to just not comment on any accents we heard, and we had complied. But, they all commented on our accents. A very Jerome-ish thought came to mind. It wasn't fair they got to tell us all about our accents when we couldn't say a word about theirs! I pushed the strange thought away, frowning. My hands were stuffed deep into the dark wool pockets of my coat, hoping to retain some warmth. Patricia was uncomfortably wearing several layers of her gothic clothing, even though it actually would have looked cooler with just a regular coat.

Eddie was snickering about something with Fabian while we stood at the edge of the queue, trying to strike a conversation up with someone. Finally, a middle aged woman came bustling down. "Well, hello." she greeted us.

"Hello miss-ma'am," Fabian stuttered.

"I'm Nina," I introduced myself.

For the first time, she didn't comment on our accents as Patricia and Eddie introduced themselves. "Alison," she told us. "Now, what are you doing standing around in the cold?"

"W-we wanted to find out a little about local history," Patricia stammered. "For a project. For school." she added.

"It's Christmas break," she eyed us suspiciously.

"We're very hardworking," Eddie put in.

I almost sighed. This woman was obviously not stupid, so we shouldn't try and treat her like she was. But to my surprise she just nodded, although she narrowed her eyes. "What did you want to know?"

"Emily Penn," Fabian blurted out all in a rush.

The woman took a step back. "Why do you want to know about her? She was murdered!"

"W-we..." This time it was me that stuttered, trying to think of a good reason. "We were... curious..." I finished lamely.

*.*

Patricia

After half an hour of coaxing, we found out a bit more about Emily Penn, and Anna too. Malcolm remained mostly a mystery.

The story drifted back to me.

_Emily Penn was about to be married to Malcolm Allan, when she died unexpectedly. A group of boys found her at the bottom of a sheer side of the mountain, looking as if she had been running or had been pushed. Malcolm Allan became unstable after that. Anna Penn died of a head injury after she was found lying in a shack in the woods, near Malcolm Allan's house. It looked like someone had attacked her with a hammer. She spent the last two hours of her life not knowing what had happened, or who had attacked her. Eventually she died, leaving a murder hanging after her._

__I shuddered. No wonder Anna wanted to know who murdered her.

Before I knew it, my head was pressed against the polished mahogany desk in the living room, and I was sleeping.

_I stood before a shack in the woods. Looking down at myself, I realized that I had a dress on. Looking at my hair, I realized it was blonde and curly; like Anna's I realized with a shock.  
>"Choose your path carefully through the woods, Anna. The cat got lost a while back, choosing the wrong path." I heard a voice echoing through my head, and somehow I knew it was Emily Penn's. I heard footsteps and whirled around, seeing a dark form with a hammer emerging from the shadows.<em>

_"NO!" I screamed. "DON'T HURT ME!"_

_I remembered a throbbing pain through my head and the hammer swinging down, seeming as if it would crush_ me.

I woke with a start. "Eddie!" I called out.

**When I get 3+ reviews I will update!**

~Iceshadow~


	8. Silence

**I can't believe I have 7 chapters already! *Giggle* But on a more important note, I've changed the rating to T. Let me know what you think. Also I owe partly to this great song on youtube for inspiration for this chapter... I don't own the song. "Sadness Piano Song - Alone in the dark music by Vadim Kiselev", on The0maXa's channel. Check it out if you like sad piano solos, it's pretty awesome. This chapter was originally planned to be mostly Peddie fluff but that piano song changed it into something which I like much better.**

Chapter Eight, Silence

Patricia

I slowly forced my eyes open, the light flooding in seeming too much and too bright. My hands were shaking and felt weak, and I could feel the rough material of the couch in the living room against my back. I thought there must be some sleep in my eyes and all I wanted to do was sink back into the deep, deep oblivion of sleep.

But just as soon as I started to drift back down, a pounding strike erupted in my head, causing me to suddenly jerk up into a sitting position. The pain throbbed over and over again, and when I shut my eyes all I saw was a pulsing red. I could see the small veins in my eyelids pulsing and I desperately wanted to open my eyes again. If I did though, I knew that the light would stab into my head like lightning, burning my eyes.

It was like the feeling one had when one had a sore throat and a bad fever. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get away from the fever and the scratchy sore throat that constantly reminded you that it was there. I felt hot, too. Startling flashes of images came through my mind, before my very eyes.

_I was terrified. The gray sky seemed to let more light through than a vibrant blue sky. It was cold and bright, and everything seemed too quiet. I could feel a body that was not my own. I spun around, feeling the slightest tingle of the icy wind on my delicate hands. I could see a figure hunched in the woods. I became conscious of all the sounds that were not there. I imagined the bracken rustling around me, as if to comfort me. I could imagine the birds chirping and the distant rumble of thunder, and the gentle drops of rain sliding onto the brown, smooth leaves in the clearing._

_I could remember days before this. Days before a mindless terror that took hold of me, a terror that would not let me sleep at night and would not let my mind drift during the day. I could remember days on which a gray sky would have seemed a trivial thing, and the rain would have seemed a nuisance. The fronds rustling and the birds chirping would have simply been one of the simple pleasures of life. Now it seemed the rain was consoling me, whispering to me. _I will stay with you_, it seemed to tell me. _I will not leave you_. The fronds seemed to say much the same. _Stay strong, we will not leave you.

_I know those sounds were there, but in the dreadful silence that awaited me as the hammer came down on my head, on my face; they were gone. _Help me,_ I whispered. I was alone in the woods, with no one to care._

_No one to care except for the fronds and the rain. They would not leave me. _

Help me,_ I whispered to those that would not leave me._

"Eddie!" I called out, getting off the couch. My legs shook and I could hardly move. The flashes kept coming. I saw the corner of my own white dress with brown ties on it swishing through the rain. Then, I saw my front and my blonde curls spattered with a dark red stain that would not go. It would not lift and it would not leave me.

I felt his strong arms around me again, helping me to stand. "Patricia, what's happening?" his voice came to me as if in a dream.

Finally I shook the flashes away and I just saw his face. His face outlined clearly, right next to mine. I realized my arms were around his neck, but somehow I could not move away. "Help me," I half sobbed half whispered against him.

I felt the couch against my back again and felt his hand on mine. "What's happening?" he asked softly.

I couldn't open my eyes, the same flashes played out over and over again.

_I saw the red stain spreading across my dress. In that moment I knew the fronds and the rain were there, waiting for me to hear them. I stared up at the sky and wondered why I could not hear the rain. I could not hear anything. Was I to die in this silence, without hearing anyone or anything? Would no kind words ever come to me again, not even from the bracken and the rain? _  
>Help me.<p>

I couldn't hear him, I couldn't see him. What was happening to me? The pain hardly mattered anymore, I couldn't even feel it through the haze of confusion and the spinning memories which were not my own.

"Help me," I whispered again. I pleaded although I could not hear my own voice. "Help me. Don't let me die like this."

**Now you think I'm dark and twisted, I know. Let me know if you liked it or not, and I'm sorry not much happened but that's just the way I am. I'll try to update soon, but that might not be possible. Not sure yet.**

~Iceshadow~


	9. Preparations

**Sorry for the long update, but here we go.**

Chapter 9, Preparations

Nina

I, Fabian, Eddie, Mara, and Jerome were sitting in the living room. Fabian was trying to get the fire started, without any success.

"You all know what's happening to Patricia," I started shakily.

"Actually no, we don't. That's kind of the point." Jerome said angrily.

I cleared my throat, focusing on the cup of steaming tea in my hands. "Okay. Some of you know that weird things are going on, back at Anubis as well as here. So, based on Eddie's research and that letter we found in the shack, we think we have a solution to the problem."

Fabian stood up next to me. "Patricia and Eddie saw a ghost, shortly before Patricia apparently lost her hearing."

"A... ghost?" Mara asked, eyes wide in fright.

"Exactly," I continued. "The story we got from the lady in the Post Office ties in with our theory. We think that Malcolm killed Emily Penn, and two years later he killed Anna. Anna died of a head injury from a hammer, _in that shack,_ and spent the last two hours of her life _not __remembering_ who killed her. We also think that Patricia is experiencing the moment of Anna's death, so that Anna might remember."

"So, if we get Anna to remember, Patricia will be back to normal?" Eddie leaned forward off the couch.

The slouching cushion of the chair enfolded my back as I leaned into it. "Yes. But there's only one way to get her to remember."

"How?" Mara asked.

Fabian's eyes were dark as he answered slowly. "We have to replay history."

*.*

Nina

"This is crazy!" Eddie protested angrily.

"We don't have a choice!" I wrung my hands helplessly. "Do you want her to stay like this?"

Eddie swallowed and looked away.

"Okay, Patricia." I knelt down beside the girl, who was on the floor in one of the bedrooms. "Can you hear me?"

No response came from the staring, empty eyes.

"Let's go," I sighed. "Eddie, you take Patricia. Jerome and Mara, you stay here. Fabian and I will go with Eddie and Patricia." I nodded to them all and we started out the door, dreading what we might be about to do.

*.*

Nina

The woods were cold as white, slim snowflakes began drifting down through the glade. I looked at Fabian's eyes as I wondered if we really had any chance. What were we going to do? Get Eddie to almost kill Patricia to remind a ghost? Yes, that was pretty much our plan. _I'm not a worthy leader of Sibuna, when I can't even figure out a way to remind a ghost of what happened without almost killing a member._ I thought darkly. Something about this whole plan just screamed that it was a bad idea.

Eddie's jaw stood out as he looked down at the rusty, heavy hammer that was in his hands. I looked at the leaves gathered on the ground as the wind blew and wet snowflakes settled on the ground. "Anna would have been alone," Fabian said in a voice which was not his. "We should stand back."

Patricia was looking around, blindly holding Eddie's hand as we retreated. She hadn't talked since she lost her hearing, apart from whimpering sometimes. As we retreated behind a big oak tree, I looked at Fabian again. "What if we're doing the wrong thing? What if it goes wrong? Fabian, what if he actually kills her?"

"He won't kill her." My ex-boyfriend looked away. He had known Patricia for longer than I had. This must be terrible for him. And it was all my fault.

I took strength from Patricia's words. _Don't let me die like this._ She wouldn't have wanted to live her life without hearing, with haunting nightmares which might eventually kill her.

_I won't let you die Patricia._

*.*

Eddie

I looked at the implement in my hands, and at Patricia's frown as she looked at it. Fabian and Nina had gone. What was I about to do?

Slowly, she inched closer to me as the snow fell faster and faster. I met her eyes. "I'm so sorry Patricia," I whispered although she couldn't hear.

She leaned forward and kissed me.

I was about to almost kill her, and she was kissing me. I kissed her back, and whispered again, "I'm sorry."

After a moment, she began to back away, a wild suspicious flaring in her eyes. She had guessed the use for the hammer.

Patricia fell over a root, and stumbled onto the ground. "E-eddie?" she asked in a terrified voice.

_I won't kill you._ I said to myself. _I'll only do what I have to do to make Anna remember. _

The hammer began to fall through the snow slicked air.

**Reviews = Updates.**

**~Iceshadow~**


	10. Just Step Away

**Okay... *gasps* So, this is be our last chapter ever... of this story! *Cries* All my stories are ending!**

Chapter 10, Just Step Away

No point of view

_The hammer began to fall through the snow slicked air._

_An unearthly screech rose from the freezing woods as it stopped short._

_A flash of light shot through the clearing as once again the ghost of a girl stepped forward into the clearing, and vanished._

_There was a thud as the implement of destruction hit the floor, and he knelt down beside her._

"Patricia! Patricia are you alright?" he asked urgently, putting his arms around her as he sheltered her from the wind.

She slowly gasped in a breath of the frigid air, and looked slowly up at his face as images flashed past her eyes.

__A man stepped out of the shadows. Dark brown hair and hazel eyes stared back at her. "Emily," he smiled at her.__

_"Malcolm," she greeted him. "Have you seen the cat?" she asked slowly._

_"She's at my house, she must have run there in a rainstorm." he told her, circling his arms around her waist._

_She pulled away, scolding him with a wagging finger. "Catch me first," she breathed in a white cloud in front of his face. With those last words, she was gone. He crashed through the dark woods, laughing with her as he chased her._

_Then it hit him. She was running towards a cliff. As the screech rose towards the cold moon, he realized something._

_He had just committed murder._

Malcolm went mad after that.

Patricia's eyes came suddenly open after the series of reveries, and looked him straight in the eye. "You tried to kill me." She breathed.

"No, no, you don't understand yet." He promised her. "Just come back with me to the house, and I'll explain and you'll understand." Eddie said gently.

*.*

Patricia was in the warm kitchen with Eddie and a mug of hot chocolate, tactfully having been left alone by their housemates.

Finally, he finished his lengthy explanation as she contemplated the swirls of steam rising from the dark brown surface of her drink. "Patricia, I only did what I thought would help you." He moved forward to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away suddenly, putting the drink down on the counter with a heavy clink.

"Don't you dare! You only wanted to help," she mocked him, her pink hair extension bobbing. "You almost killed me, just to remind some ghost of her little emotional issues!" Patricia snarled.

"Patricia, it was the only thing we could think-"

"The only thing you could think of! You have such minimal brain power?" As he tried to interrupt her she cut him off again. "Eddie Miller, you might well have saved the day, but whatever we had is _over!_"

Patricia, in her thin lace black shawl slammed the door behind her as she ran out of the cabin.

*.*

She collapsed in the snow, it's cold grip enfolding her as it crunched beneath her. Some sparse leaves left from autumn drifted down although there was no wind. It was cold, and she was alone.

All she could think of was that stupid American, the one who had almost killed her 'to save her'. Thought kept crashing through her mind, but never being completed.

Finally, strange words came next, invading her thoughts and commanding her attention.

_There's nothing left to say  
>So why don't you just step away?<em>

_Don't think of runnin' after me  
>Your face is one I don't want to see<em>

_I don't care what's in your head  
>or what was in the books you read<em>

_I don't want to know what could have been  
><em>_Because this will never happen again_

_I'll be like stone  
>I'll be alone<em>

_If you won't, I'll go  
>Out into the snow<em>

_At least I can try  
>So you won't see me cry<em>

And she was crying, she was sobbing because she had fallen in love and she didn't know what to do.

She was sobbing so hard she didn't hear him running up behind her, so hard that it wasn't until he was kneeling beside her and turning her around to face him she realized he was there.

"Patricia, I can't make you understand any other way, and I'm not really sure myself." he looked deeply into her eyes, and then kissed her.

She sprung back like she was being dragged away, and looked wide eyed at him. "Yeah, well..." she looked taken aback and resorted to her former brusque manner. She said stupidly, "Let's just not talk about this, 'kay?"

"'Kay, Yakker." He looked at her again and then drew close to her. He breathed out three words into the frosted air of Scotland.

"I love you."

_If you come back  
>Pull me out of the black<em>

_Then maybe I'll tell_

_Where my thoughts dwell_

_I'll wait for you forever  
>You'll tell me whenever<em>

_And that's my dream_

"I love you."

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